Well we had our 6th annual Puppy Party this year. Hard to believe been doing this for that long. This year was amazing, we had so much food and SO MANY raffle prizes. I was so worried we had too much stuff. LOL!
Doing this 6 years I have tried a lot of different things and have learned that keeping it simple works the best.
50/50 is always good.
Having the dog trainer there everyone loves. But then who doesn't love Mel :-) If you live in Northern Ohio check him out http://www.paramountdogtraining.com/
Having our merchandise is always good.
Raffle baskets are a great hit but finding that the gift cards are probably not the way to go.... we have people that come from hours away and are unable to use the gift cards.
Tried to have some vendors this year... Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef, etc. and they didn't sell a lot of stuff. I feel bad b/c I wanted it to be worth it for them.
Learned I MUST have someone designated to
*drive way / parking traffic
*gate watcher so people don't let other people's dog out of the fenced yard
*food restock person and organizer (which is usually my sister(s) - and they do a FABULOUS JOB!)
Also, learned I need to put a sign on the end of the driveway that says PRIVATE PARTY. A family coming home from Church saw the signs for Puppy Party and stopped by. They walked around my farm, ate food and left. WHAT????? Are you kidding me?? If there were signs that said "Bob's graduation party" or "Brad and Tina's wedding" would you just stop by??? OMG!
Also, need to put on invitations that it is by invite only. A nice couple stopped by to adopt a dog and were told by their friends to stop by. YIKES! I was told someone wants to adopt a puppy and I walked over to the kennels and said "I am sorry who did you adopt already, you don't look familiar" they said we haven't we were told by friends to stop over. I felt bad but I told them this was a private party and not an adoption event and they would need to fill out an application. I am not sure who was more embarrassed me or them. I felt so bad but I worry so much about people knowing where I live and dumping dogs on me.
Well and not to mention I have had 2 dogs stolen, one I was able to recover and press charges on and one that I wasn't able to and the jerks sued me. They lost but still, sue a non-profit that is so justified of you!
I always worry about upsetting someone with having the party at my house but someone has been very quiet lately, not harassing me. It has been a nice month or so of not having my picture taken. I have a feeling because of the privacy fence it is hard to tell when dogs are outside playing.
Well vet bill is paid off with $300 left over to save a few more dogs.
Took in 2 emergency fosters on Thursday one I had to put in boarding and the other to a temp foster home. Lucky for me I moved a few dogs to fosters on Sunday after the event so I was able to get those two to my house.
Tonight I need to work on walking nice on a leash with them and I have a bunch of running around to do. AND tomorrow morning I have to get up early and head to Columbus. Better start preparing for that!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
You pick....
Pretend you are a rescue person. Today you are tasked with picking which dogs will live to see tomorrow.
Your rescue has room for 2 dogs. From the pictures below pick which ones will live:
Welcome to what I do EVERY DAY!
Your rescue has room for 2 dogs. From the pictures below pick which ones will live:
Welcome to what I do EVERY DAY!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
I had to say no.....
Today I received an email with a picture of a sad looking JRT. The subject line of the email reads
DIES TOMORROW
My reply back... sorry I don't have room or the time for another dog right now. How do you like that one simple sentence just killed a dog. And that sentence came from me.
That is my life everyday. That is the life of a rescuer. No matter what you are rescuing this is your life. YOU play God even if you don't want to. And you have to play God because who ever created this creature did it out of greed, who ever was in charge of taking care of this creature FAILED and because there are SO MANY MORE dogs in the exact same situation as this one... created out of greed and owner failed him / her.... they will DIE!
Not everyone can do what I do, not everyone can go on with their day knowing hitting send just killed a dog, not everyone can take a deep breath and move on to the next 1 BILLION animals in need.
So until you can be that person who does what I do every day don't tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing. Don't tell me I should try harder or work longer hours. Don't you dare tell me what to do until you have walked in my shoes for a day.
***Update: 09/13 - The dog found a rescue to take him. Thank God. He didn't die!
DIES TOMORROW
My reply back... sorry I don't have room or the time for another dog right now. How do you like that one simple sentence just killed a dog. And that sentence came from me.
That is my life everyday. That is the life of a rescuer. No matter what you are rescuing this is your life. YOU play God even if you don't want to. And you have to play God because who ever created this creature did it out of greed, who ever was in charge of taking care of this creature FAILED and because there are SO MANY MORE dogs in the exact same situation as this one... created out of greed and owner failed him / her.... they will DIE!
Not everyone can do what I do, not everyone can go on with their day knowing hitting send just killed a dog, not everyone can take a deep breath and move on to the next 1 BILLION animals in need.
So until you can be that person who does what I do every day don't tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing. Don't tell me I should try harder or work longer hours. Don't you dare tell me what to do until you have walked in my shoes for a day.
***Update: 09/13 - The dog found a rescue to take him. Thank God. He didn't die!
Friday, September 7, 2012
Don't judge until you have walked in my shoes...
I kid you not someone wrote this on FB about a VERY VERY VERY sick dog that was humanely euthanized due to it suffering from mammary cancer
"Regardless if an animal is healthy or sick we are not the ones who should choose when they die. An animal should choose when it is time to leave this Earth."
She was referring to the fact that the very sick dog was euthanized.
ARE YOU F-ING KIDDING ME YOUR PSYCHO!! You mean to tell me that if your animal / dog was laying their bleeding to death you and the vet looked at you and said, the dog is in a lot of pain and it is just a matter of time you wouldn't stop it from suffering. You would sit there looking it in his/her eye, confused, in pain and just watch is suffer. You are f-ing sick and need serious therapy.
Until you walk into a shelter and see a dog laying on a concrete floor drooling all over, unable to get up, pissing and shitting it's self and can scoop that dog up in your arms pay the fee to remove it form the shelter drive it to McDonalds for a hamburger and then drive to your vet wrapped in a warm blanket crying and hugging it the entire time and sit with the dog in your lap while the vet ends it's suffering don't you DARE tell me or anyone else in rescue that euthanizing an animal is WRONG! Don't you f-ing dare.
Until you sacrifice your marriage, your relationship with family and friends, spend money you don't have, eat dinner (if your lucky) at 9 or 10 pm and if you are lucky maybe when you re-heat it it will still taste ok, until you go on no sleep, spend your weekends smelling like dog crap DON'T YOU DARE EVER TELL ANY RESCUE PERSON WHAT THEY SHOULD OR SHOULDN'T DO!
Being a rescue is NOT easy, it isn't for everyone and not everyone can do it. You have to have a mind set of #1. You can't save them all #2. Yes, there are times when you say no some will die. #3. Sometimes all you can do isn't good enough. #4. Sometimes you have to say good bye even though you don't want to. #5. YOU CAN NOT KEEP THEM ALL! You have to adopt them out.... set a number in your head and that is how many you can have. My number is 4. There are 4 people that live in my house and we each have a dog. Granted my dad has none and I have 2 but whatever.. LOL! That is my rule no more then 4 no matter how badly I fall in love. And trust me I fall in love a lot! But when I get notes from their forever homes telling me how happy the dog makes them, my heart smiles. That is the best thing anyone could ever tell me and knowing the dog is happy that is really all that is important to me.
"Regardless if an animal is healthy or sick we are not the ones who should choose when they die. An animal should choose when it is time to leave this Earth."
She was referring to the fact that the very sick dog was euthanized.
ARE YOU F-ING KIDDING ME YOUR PSYCHO!! You mean to tell me that if your animal / dog was laying their bleeding to death you and the vet looked at you and said, the dog is in a lot of pain and it is just a matter of time you wouldn't stop it from suffering. You would sit there looking it in his/her eye, confused, in pain and just watch is suffer. You are f-ing sick and need serious therapy.
Until you walk into a shelter and see a dog laying on a concrete floor drooling all over, unable to get up, pissing and shitting it's self and can scoop that dog up in your arms pay the fee to remove it form the shelter drive it to McDonalds for a hamburger and then drive to your vet wrapped in a warm blanket crying and hugging it the entire time and sit with the dog in your lap while the vet ends it's suffering don't you DARE tell me or anyone else in rescue that euthanizing an animal is WRONG! Don't you f-ing dare.
Until you sacrifice your marriage, your relationship with family and friends, spend money you don't have, eat dinner (if your lucky) at 9 or 10 pm and if you are lucky maybe when you re-heat it it will still taste ok, until you go on no sleep, spend your weekends smelling like dog crap DON'T YOU DARE EVER TELL ANY RESCUE PERSON WHAT THEY SHOULD OR SHOULDN'T DO!
Being a rescue is NOT easy, it isn't for everyone and not everyone can do it. You have to have a mind set of #1. You can't save them all #2. Yes, there are times when you say no some will die. #3. Sometimes all you can do isn't good enough. #4. Sometimes you have to say good bye even though you don't want to. #5. YOU CAN NOT KEEP THEM ALL! You have to adopt them out.... set a number in your head and that is how many you can have. My number is 4. There are 4 people that live in my house and we each have a dog. Granted my dad has none and I have 2 but whatever.. LOL! That is my rule no more then 4 no matter how badly I fall in love. And trust me I fall in love a lot! But when I get notes from their forever homes telling me how happy the dog makes them, my heart smiles. That is the best thing anyone could ever tell me and knowing the dog is happy that is really all that is important to me.
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